Lumber drier



A. S. NICHOLS;

. LUMBER DRIER.- APPLICATION 11.20 0121.9. 1918.

1,318,794 Patented 001. 1 1, 1919 2 sugzrsausn. 1.

F151 I 23 I A. s. Nl-CHOLS.

LUMBER DRIER, APPLICATION mgn'oc r. 9, 19nd.

1,318,794. Patented Oct.14,1919.

I Z SHEETS- -SHEVET 2.

AAQBON S. NICHOLS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LUMBERr-DRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

Application filed October 9, 1918. Serial No. 257,505.

To all whom it may concern:

' this type heretofore used. Theinvent ion is 1 Be it known that I, AARON S. Nronons, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Lumber-Briers, of which the followin is a full, clear, and exact description.

invention relatesto improvements in lumber driers, and more particularly to improvements in lumber driers of the platen type, in which a series of superposed platens are. used, each platen being supplied with a heating medium, and the platens adapt ed to be separated to receive the lumber tween them. The object of my invention is to improve driers of this type so that dimension stuff, that is lumber of diiferent lengths and sizes, can be more conveniently placed in them or removed from them, to economize heat by providin means for applyingthe heat more direct y to the points where it is needed, to make all parts of the drier more accessible, and to provide expansible orswinging joints at-the platen ends which will besimpler, more durable, and less wasteful of heat than in'driers of I also intended to provide means for a wider range of temperatures, that is to say, in drying lumber it is sometimes necessary to use a comparatively low temperature for a certain period and then apply a higher temperature, and my invention is intended to result easily obtainable. A further advantagein this arrangement is that with driers of the ordinary kind where a high tempera ture is had and a lower one is desirable, the thermostats which usually control this apparatus do not respond quicklyenou h to provide for the necessary changes." 1 of which will be more clearly the. description which follows.

Reference is to be had to the accompany ing drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar reference characters indicate correspondin parts in all the views. Figure 1 is a side e evation of a drier embodying my invention closed. I p

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the platens separated.v

v Fig. 3 is a planview of a form offplatenwhich lends itslf readily to'my improvements, and Fig. 4 is an end view of the drier. In the drawings I have shown so much of make this understood from with the topmost pipe showing the platens the drier as is necessary to illustrate clearly the application of my lnvention. The drier has a base 10 of suitable design, a top frame 11, and rams 12 for raising and lowering the top and separating and closing the platens 13. This mechanism is not shown in detail, and'is only illustrated in a eneral way to make clear the application 0% the improvements, Each platen 13 is suitably arranged for carrying a steam coil 14 which has an inlet 15 at one corner and an exhaust 15 at the opposite end and other side. of the platens are supplied with a heating medium, usually steam, at opposite ends of the drier, the heating medium coming in through inlet pipes .16 and 17 which are pro vided with valves 18. In practice these The coils valves can obviously be located at a distance from the drier or in any control the steam inlet.

convenient place to There is a bank of other connecting pipes 21 at each end of the sides, one side being inlet pipe 16 connects by means of'a short.

pipe 19 and flexible joint 20 with a short pipe 21, and this has a flexible joint or swing oint 22 connecting with the coil 14 of one of the platens 13,

hile on the right hand side the lower pipe 21' of the bank of pipes connects-with the second platen, that ilshthe ese one next above the first, and so on. joints can be any suitable flexible or swing joint, andit will be noticed that on one end the pipes connect with the coils 14 of the odd platens, that is 1, 3, 5, 7, etc., while on the other. end the pipes connect 'withthe' even platens 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. It will be noticed that the pipes 21.-can

be short so as to have a small radiating surface, and as the pipes are connected by swing or platens'can be raised or lowered without straining either pipes or joints. TlllSlS important as will be explained presently. Each pipe 16 and 17 also connects by the pipes 23 21, the pipes 23 beby a flexible joint 24 and conthe inlet pipes and the upper ipes 21 by flexible joints 25. In Fig. I have shown the pipe connections'on one side only of the drier, as the arrangement is 311st ing connected necting with the same on the other and there is no need of duplication. p p

Attention is called to this arrangement of which has the following advantages.

Fir t, as in many driers of this flexible joints the i type, long banks of pipes are arranged on the sides of the driers, and the spring of the pipes is depended on largely to allow the movement of the platens. The disadvantage of this arrangement is, first that the banks of long pipes form a large radiating surface from which the heat is practically lost, as it is thrown off from the sides of the drier Without doing any good work. S-econd,'the constant movement of the platens causes the pipes to weaken at the joints so that Ultl: nately they break o'if. Then again by having the pipes 23 extend to the top of the banks o'fishort pipes I get a simultaneous and even application of steam to all, parts of'the drier, as the steam fiowsin from the bottom as well as the top and thusan even pressure is quickly esta' lis'hed inall parts of the drier. Furthermore, by the arrangement of the short flexiblepipes the-end portions and the greater part of the sides of the drier are left open so that the .drier can orunloa'ded at both the ends and sides, whereas with the "long bank of sub.- stantially rigid pipes generall usedonly longlum'ber can be dried, and ,thishas to be ilntroduc'ed or taken from the ends ofthe ner.

It will be understood,

practice the .drier .can be cased in by any usual or preferred .form of casing, and the exhaust comes through thelbankof -pipes on the opposite side from the inlet, Another important advantage of the arrangement shown, and especially of having the bank of flexible pipesconnect with one set of pl-atens'at one-end of the machine, and the other bank at the opposite end connect with the intervening platens, is this; if the temperature istoo high, when steam or other heating medium is applied-to all the platens, rt can be shut oil from half of them in my. arrangement, thus leaving every other platen hot, and of course .the temperature will be comparatively low, and on the other hand the steam can be instantly turned on to all the platens, thus raising the temperature to the desired point. i

In the drawings '1 have shown-how the upper ends of the pipe banks can he supported by hangers 26, but any suitable means for supporting them can be used.

I wish .it clearly understood that in this app'hcation the construction of the drier as a whole is not gone into in .detail, .and is not claimed, but the invention lies in the arrangement of the inlet pipes, the flexible construction of the several banks of'pipes, the individual control of the inlet to the platens, and the construction and arrangement of the flexible pipes generally.

I claim:

1. In a platen type of lumber-drier having horizontailly arranged platens carryin heat, ing co'ils, t e combination withsnch p aliens,

of course, that in of the drier,

'zontally. one a ofbanksof pipes, and connecting 'by flexible joints with the coils of the platens.

2. In a lumber .drier of the type employing spaced platens movable up and down carrying heating coils, the combination with such platens, of banks of pipes at the sides together by flexible joints and connected also to the coils of the platens.

3. In a lumber drier having horizontally arranged platens carr platens being movab e up and down, the combination with such platens, of pipes at the sides of the drier connected together by flexible oints and to the coils of the platens, and means for admitting a heating medium at the upper and lower parts of said banks of pipes. I &. Ina lumber drier df'the kind described, the combination with the horizontally arran ed platens having heating coils, of 'banis ofpipes connected together with flexible joints and connected with the coils of the platens, and means for cutting out or in the .heat' medium from part of the platen coils without disturbing .the connec tions with the remaining platen coils.

5. In a drier of the kind described, the combination with the. platens carryin heating coils 'sa'id 'latens being arranged horiove the other and movable up and down, of short banks of pipes con nected by flexible joints and arranged to produce a lazy-tongs efi'ect, said banks being located -near the ends and .on the sides of the drier, the banks of ipes at one end connecting with every other platen, and the ban'ksat the other end connecting with the intervening platens. I v v 6. Ina drierof the type-described. having horizontally arranged .platenscarrying heating coils, the combination with such platens, of banks of pipes having-flexible. joints arranged near theend portions and at the sides ofthe drier, the banks of pipes at -one end connecting with a portion of the platens and atvthe other end with the remaining platens, andxan individual control for the inlet of the separate banks-of pipes.

7 The combination with the movable platens carrying heating'coils, of separate banks of pipes having flexible joint-connections with each other, and the banks being arranged opposite diflerent portions of the platens, the banks at one end connecting with certain ofthe platens and the banks at V the other end connecting with the remaining platens, separate valve controlled inlet pipes for the .two banks of pipes, and a flexible connection between the inlet pipe and the lower end of a bank of pipes and also with the upper end of said bank of pipes, whereby quick and even pressure is supplied to the several pipe banks and platens.

8. The combination with the movable said pipes being connected ing heating coils, the

I and also connected to a portion 10 by flexible joints and arranged at the sides of the drier and near opposite end portions of the platens whereby the sides of the drier are left open, connections between the pipe banks and the coils of the platens, and steam connections for the pipe banks.

' AARON S. NICHOLS.

Witnesses:

WM. A. SoHoENBncK, R. H. MORGAN. 

